Recent Trend To Avoid MRES Here?

27959 Views 52 Replies 32 Participants Last post by MikeK, Nov 26, 2012

Sprig

Discussion Starter · Oct 25, 2011

So, I ignore thread upon thread for YEARS here about MRE's.

The Home Brew MREs here were GREAT! Really gave me some insight on what someone could put together.

HOWEVER, there is just something different about a real MRE "meal".
There is the complete package, including the spoon. The extras are great for "survival" as the daily MRE meal is high calorie and carb dense.

90%+ of my food preps are canned goods. However, I always knew the MRE had its terrible place, and I am wondering why it seems to have become less and less of topic here?

I am SO HAPPY with my recent Civilian MRE purchase! I need to do a review to explain why, but I've lazied out.

Dry goods, Canned goods, Goods in Cans, and MREs all have their place for possible situations in the future.:thumb:

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kev

· #2 · Oct 25, 2011

I think there is a place for MREs, but they are expensive, loaded with sodium, and are affected by heat during storage.

I think I have around 12 cases of MREs, then there are the #10 cans, mylar bags and canned goods.

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REM

· #3 · Oct 25, 2011

Sprig said:
The Home Brew MREs here were GREAT! Really gave me some insight on what someone could put together.

I searched, but I'm not finding much. Can you describe, "Home Brew MREs?"

Brand name? Home brewing as in beer?

Thanks.

I have no MREs. At some point I might get to where I can add some, but canned and dried staples works for me right now at my stage.

MtnCat

· #4 · Oct 25, 2011

Absolutely on the sodium!

After three days (one MRE entree per day), I realized these puppies will have to be rotated with D/H food if we're on the move otherwise, we ain't going nowhere until things work themselves out of our systems.

They brought the need for plenty of water (whether carried or harvested) home in a big way.

Sprig

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 25, 2011

kev said:
I think there is a place for MREs, but they are expensive, loaded with sodium, and are affected by heat during storage.

I think I have around 12 cases of MREs, then there are the #10 cans, mylar bags and canned goods.

Well, they USED TO BE EXPENSIVE...

a can of SOUP is now double what it was 18 months ago ... seems the Civilian MREs are still close to the same price... except for delivery costs.

At the moment, MRE's seem to be an increasingly better deal.

MikeK

· #6 · Oct 25, 2011

Probably because MREs are expensive and bulky for what you get. They fill a niche, and are great for short term problems. But for BOBs, there are better alternatives, and for home storage there are better alternatives. It's a niche product, and as such, isn't as talked about as some of the other things. Not that we haven't had an absolutely endless string of MRE threads anyway.

I can get military MREs semi-regularly at $25-40 a case here. Still, I keep very few of them on hand. They just don't fill much of a need for me. Sometimes I have a couple dozen cases on hand because I bought in bulk to get a good deal and intend to sell them at gun shows. But generally I rarely keep more than 2-4 cases for my own uses.

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Sprig

Discussion Starter · #7 · Oct 25, 2011

MikeK said:
...I bought in bulk to get a good deal and intend to sell them at gun shows. But generally I rarely keep more than 2-4 cases for my own uses.

WOW!

I am trying to GET up to TWO CASES of MRE shelf stable products.

If you are DOWNSIZING to TWO CASES, then we are in agreement!!!!

For those that don't know, you can NOT BUG OUT on foot with even 1 CASE (12 meals) that you CARRY.

Having to really have food to eat sucks...

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bay95567

· #8 · Oct 25, 2011

in somalia all we had was warm water, and those koolaid packs were the bomb.As stated they are good for certain situations,but after youve ate so many you want no more.i think if you are going to buy some its cheaper to just buy the main meals every thing else is just fluff

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Mr. Beef

· #9 · Oct 25, 2011

I don't know why people have such an issue with MRE's.

They are a meal in a pouch that doesn't take up alot of room.
You can stop moving, fix one, eat, and move on in less than an hour.
They are good.
They are easy.

Now I'm not saying to eat MREs every freeking meal, but throw three of them in your BOB or GHB and your food worries are over for atleast 72 hours.

Home made MREs are good as well because you have the choice in whats in them. Even better...
Hopefully one day everyone will get off the subject of the Big Bad MRE meal and see the good in them.

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Crutch

· #10 · Oct 25, 2011

MRE's are high in sodium... which is bloody brilliant considering that if you are eatting them, then you are IN THE FIELD using them. You expend an extreme amount of sodium in sweat and pee, and the MRE takes this into account.

I personally LOVE the MRE. When the SHTF, I wont be sitting on my ass waiting for things to recover, I will be working the fields assuming they wont.

I'll need those excessive calories, and yes the sodium too.

If you are a doer, not a waiter (difference between survivalist and prepper) then you want to assume you will be more active then, than you are now.

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Wetwork

· #11 · Oct 25, 2011

I only buy the Entree's...$2.35 each. Fill up Rubbermaid totes... I think the pro's with MRE meals is the shelf life and basically single serving's. Sure they degrade with temperature, but just about any single serving meal, besides something canned will. They are only bulky with a whole meal packet. I can fit three or four entree's into the space of one "meal." If you want to stabilize the temps and get them to last longer find the coldest spot in your house or yard, or bury them if need be.

What about weight? I'd say a backpack full of can's is going to weigh a ton more than a backpack full of entree's. So being portable is going to come into play in many situations, especially with you bug-out folks.

I think its a great addition to canned foods. I have a hard time with #10 can's, once you open one the aging starts so you could end up with twenty opened cans just trying to put a little variation into the meals.

I use my MRE's as my "run-away, run-away" deal, I had four large plastic totes full when I lived on the coast. In the event the "big wave" was headed my way (and several times almost did) my wife and I pitched all 4 totes in the Surburban in about 3 mins. I had them stacked and ready by the garage door at all times. One panic "watch" we loaded 5 kids, two dogs, a cat, and the MRE totes, my cooking BOB and were headed for high ground in 5 mins. The only thing that sucked, is I had to peal off to get my boats to the 90 fathom line. So my wife watched from a mountain top, as I screamed out'a the bay. All the Coast Guard dependants and Command met in a "spot", while us Surfman had to man the boats and get offshore....it was kinda nerve racking. But I sure felt better the wife and kids were totally prepped, she was under orders from me if the wave did hit to take off and go camping....don't camp with the sheep.

Since then I've retired and moved to my homestead and I get to spend the rest of my day's turning my house into... well I'm on this site aint I. And MRE entree's will have their place.-WW

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Targeted

· #12 · Oct 25, 2011 (Edited)

I'm a bit of a foodie, and I am convinced it will be my undoing. Honestly, I don't care for the taste/texture of MREs.

I only plan to use them as the name implies as a "Meal" that is "Ready" to "Eat" (quotes added to emphasize sarcasm). For that purpose, I belatedly realized that I prefer the First Strike rations over the traditional MREs for food on the go. If I have the chance to stop and heat one up, I'm probably going to favor Mountain House bags (I can eat Chili Mac until the end of time) or even a pouch of Knorr Pasta or Idahoan Potatoes over the MRE. If I'm at home...and I can cook without worrying about odor related opsec... then there is no contest.

That being said I made the mistake of stocking up on them before I had adequately explored other options. The only good thing that came out of that experiment was finding out how much I like lifeboat rations. I definitely plan on using them as a calorie booster.

Edit:
I don't disagree that MREs definitely have their place, I just will use them as a last resort (fuel/water/food conservation, opsec, etc).

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Crutch

· #13 · Oct 25, 2011

Targeted said:
I'm a bit of a foodie, and I am convinced it will be my undoing. Honestly, I don't care for the taste/texture of MREs.

I only plan to use them as the name implies as a "Meal" that is "Ready" to "Eat" (quotes added to emphasize sarcasm). For that purpose, I belatedly realized that I prefer the First Strike rations over the traditional MREs for food on the go. If I have the chance to stop and heat one up, I'm probably going to favor Mountain House bags (I can eat Chili Mac until the end of time) or even a pouch of Knorr Pasta or Idahoan Potatoes over the MRE. If I'm at home...and I can cook without worrying about odor related opsec... then there is no contest.

That being said I made the mistake of stocking up on them before I had adequately explored other options. The only good thing that came out of that experiment was finding out how much I like lifeboat rations. I definitely plan on using them as a calorie booster.

Edit:
I don't disagree that MREs definitely have their place, I just will use them as a last resort (fuel/water/food conservation, opsec, etc).

First off... Baltimore MD? Awesome man!!!

Back on topic.

Life Boat rations are technically mres. I also love them. The only problem is if you of course face food fatigue or are allergic to coconut.

The MRE's I have last years. Even under "bad" conditions, they still are edible.

No they aren't palatable, nor retain the same nutritional values, but they are still edible.

I have MRE's that are over 4 years old and taste just fine. I actually enjoy them and consider them a treat.

Salt unlike in today's excessive diet, is often sought after. It's rare, and hard to come by.

Probably my largest peeve against survivalists who are salt-a-phobes.

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extreme_survival84

· #14 · Oct 25, 2011

Personally, I love MRE's. To me, their only drawback is the fact that they ARE so affected by temperature during storage. The calorie, fat, and sodium content is really a moot point, seeing as how in a true survival situation, you're gonna be blowing through calories and salts at up to double the rate. Diets be damned, in that situation, you WANT more food energy, and more salt to replace what's left your body in the form of perspiration. They're nutritionally balanced for people in the same nasty spot we may fins ourselves in when SHTF.

I've eaten them MANY times in many situations, and I actually like the taste. The cheeseburger MRE's are the greatest thing since sliced bread IMO, and I could eat the others all day long.

Unfortunately, I don't have any in my stockpile. I have cases of freeze dried meals, hundreds of cans of canned food, oats, dried meats and 200lbs of beans, but no MRE's. They just don't last long in my house for some reason. Curse my weak self control.

:

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stephpd

· #15 · Oct 25, 2011

I doubt I even have a case of them. I can see where they'd come in handy, like not wanting to expose your position with a fire for cooking.

I keep them just for that type of instance.
But that would be an extreme emergency use only.
I keep a couple in my BOB just so I can eat and travel to my back up location, which is less then two days away in the worst case. Same for other emergency rations for even less distance traveling by foot. A couple 'survival' bars are in my GHB.

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irishmike357

· #16 · Oct 25, 2011

I am completely confused why people are so against them as well. They have salt ahhhhh, oh wait salt is good for you. I am sorry but if the entire US military lived off of MREs in the heat of Iraq with the lack of water we had then you will be fine. Oh and there were a lot of days we ate THREE MREs a day and still didn't die from the salt intake.

I love MREs and keep a few around and ready to go. Also they have some other useful things, matches (always needed), hotsauce (luxury), heater (a warm meal with out giving your position away via fire/smoke/smell), drink mix (another luxury). These things might not seem like much now, but when the S hits the F you will love them.

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rachelinnys

· #17 · Oct 25, 2011

MRE's are a ration. It was to replace the heavy canned rations the GI's used while in the field. For civvies this is rather redundant. For most of our caleries would come from real food.

So, for a an emergency ration I simply made my own. Got some small boxes and put in a granola bar and sinle serving peanut butter. drink mix, plastic knife and napkin. It's only for emergency use. So, I see no need to spend a lot of money on these things.

hrdrock2

· #18 · Oct 25, 2011

I have 2 cases of MRE stashed away, along with mylar bags, can goods, and freeze dried/dehydrated, also picked up a bunch of just the MRE entrees awhile back as they take up very little room.

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1/1_USMC_Grunt

· #19 · Oct 25, 2011

irishmike357 said:
I am completely confused why people are so against them as well. They have salt ahhhhh, oh wait salt is good for you. I am sorry but if the entire US military lived off of MREs in the heat of Iraq with the lack of water we had then you will be fine. Oh and there were a lot of days we ate THREE MREs a day and still didn't die from the salt intake.

I love MREs and keep a few around and ready to go. Also they have some other useful things, matches (always needed), hotsauce (luxury), heater (a warm meal with out giving your position away via fire/smoke/smell), drink mix (another luxury). These things might not seem like much now, but when the S hits the F you will love them.

I agree. I was an 03(0341 and 0351 to be exact) and I "preferred" MRE's over the chow hall food. Now, I rarely ate the whole MRE and usually stored away quick goto meals in pockets, you never know if you will ever get to stop to eat and I would rather have my head in the game than on my stomach.

MRE's have their place, but I agree with most here, it's not as your bulk bug in food.

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Seraph035

· #20 · Oct 25, 2011

MRE's have their place, what they are intended for, which is a temporary substitute for 'normal' meals. they are good for a person who is on the go, without the time or facilities for preparing food. For a survivalist, the MRE has it's place in the BOB or GHB, or may be stored in the pantry for scout team usage, or for those occasions when other considerations take precedance over food preparation.

I have met persons who considered the food available on a Naval vessel preferable to MRE's, and have been in a position where I would have gladly exchanged that fare for a pouch of beef dices with gravy .. what can I say? One's food prep should not consist entirely of MRE's, but one should definitley have a few for those occasions where the MRE is needed.

For the Missus's GHB, we have recently substituted Datrex wafers for the MRE , since she may have a period of several weeks or even months of hiking in order to get home. Granted, the wafers are equivelent to freeze dried cardboard as far as taste is concerned, they pack a signifigant amount of nutritional value into a very small package.

For a three day pack, MRE meals are a good choice. Don't count them out entirely.

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